Putin: Russia to become country with developed civil society and stable democracy

Russia must and will be a country with a developed civil society and stable democracy. It will ensure human rights, civil and political freedoms to a full extent, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in his annual State of the Nation Address.

"Russia must and will be a county with a competitive market economy, where property rights are firmly protected and economic freedoms allow people to work honestly and earn their living without fear and restriction," the President stated.

"Russia will be a country with modern, well-equipped and mobile armed forces and army ready to defend Russia and its allies, national interests of the country and its citizens. All this must create adequate conditions for people and allow Russia to be equal with the most developed states," the Russian Head of State pointed out.

According to him, in the near future Russia must "take a firm place among really strong, economically advanced and influential countries". "We must consolidate all our decisions and actions to achieve it," Putin stated.

"In the past three years we have not only resolved a significant number of problems, dealing with them daily as our life demanded so, but made significant progress," the President pointed out. "We must take now the next step." "This is an absolutely new task and new stage for the country, which so far has been unachievable for us due to a number of other urgent problems. Now we have this opportunity and we must take the advantage," the Russian Head of State stressed.